Schumacher gets speedy – Swiss-style

Schumacher shakes hands with Torriani after Friday's ride Keystone

Formula One motor racing champion Michael Schumacher took time out on Friday to test a different type of vehicle, swapping his Ferrari for a ride down the St Moritz bobsleigh run.

Driven down by former Swiss bob champion Giancarlo Torriani, Schumacher appeared to enjoy his rare role as passenger.

“Although the speed wasn’t unusual for me, I was still impressed by the ride,”the German star told compatriot and reigning world bob champion Christoph Langen in a German television interview.

“In the Horse Shoe bend I really felt the G-force,” added Schumacher, “but it was very different from when I’m in the car where the force is almost entirely horizontal.”

“Not to everyone’s taste”

“Shooting into a bend at 130 kilometres an hour without being able to brake may not be to everyone’s taste,” the Formula One star admitted.

Schumacher’s wife Corinna would seem to agree. After going down the run just before her husband, Mrs Schumacher seemed to be a bit more fazed by her Swiss adventure.

“At the start it was all very comfortable,” Corinna recalled. “But I didn’t do as well on the second half of the run. After the Horse Shoe I just kept my head down.”

Based in Switzerland, the Schumachers at least didn’t have too much further to travel as they made their way home – and it sounded as if Michael may have been the one most up to driving.

swissinfo with agencies